


A Matter of Mutual Interest

by Gammarad



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Double Agents, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 06:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21249173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gammarad/pseuds/Gammarad
Summary: When the Sith Warrior is captured by the SIS, Theron Shan tries to make a deal with him.The Warrior isn't sure who's playing who in this trade-off of mutual interests.





	A Matter of Mutual Interest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wednesday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesday/gifts).

A breather for now, thought the Sith in his bare cell on some Republic world. The SIS had held him for days - he wasn't sure how many. They had tried laughable levels of torture, their drugs useless against him because their force-inhibition restraints failed to work fully on him, possibly because of the shard of the Emperor's power in him. Although the bulky cuffs on his wrists did stop certain extensions of power - he could not reach out and move objects, knock down walls or choke the interrogators - he could burn drugs from his system as easily as ever and keep the Jedi they sent out of his mind.

They had also tried some sort of implant surgery - with him awake because he refused to let their drugs render him unconscious - and he had fried the devices as soon as they had been installed. 

It was a stalemate. The SIS were getting nothing from him, and he couldn't find a means to escape. It was only a matter of time before Baras could put pressure on one of his agents within the SIS to kill Daru, and it would be over.

It was his own fault that he was in this position. Daru had thought that at least Baras was loyal to the Empire. Assumed, rather. He would have known better if he had actually _thought_.

Daru was tired of betrayal. He hadn't exactly trusted Quinn, but he had counted on him. And he had underestimated Baras's determination to be rid of his unwanted apprentice. Why? He had seen how many agents Baras had in place. Of course Baras would not have been certain Quinn would succeed -- which Quinn hadn't, not truly, though he might as well have.

Perhaps his father would see Baras punished for it. Just because Malgus didn't care for him, didn't mean he would allow the slight of Baras getting him killed.

A nice thought, but probably untrue. Malgus would more likely not even notice.

If he had had time to press his claim to the new status the Emperor's Hand had awarded him, it might have been different. A lost chance.

His fury and hatred built up the dark side power inside him, and the force manacles kept it there, stifling him unbearably, choking him with it as if he were trapped in a house on fire. His eyes burned, his throat too, his hands and feet curling into themselves with unrelieved cramping. The SIS interrogators thought their little pinpricks and shocks were torture. They knew nothing of pain.

Light side practice was not entirely unknown to Daru. Jaesa had shown him a few tricks early in his training of her, when reciprocation brought her more easily under his influence. He reached desperately for the peace that was a lie, knowing it was the only thing that could siphon off the overabundance of dark side force that was tormenting him.

Daru's muscles slowly began to unclench as the emotions that fed the power ebbed within. He accepted for the moment where he was, what had happened to him. 

He opened his eyes and realized he was no longer alone in his cell. 

The man who sat unnaturally still was a human, probably a cyborg unless what looked like implants on his cheek and forehead were only cosmetic.

Average build, excellent physique, very attractive and striking looking for an intelligence agent - possibly Jedi, then. Daru sensed nothing in the force because of the manacles. But human Jedi were always better looking than the human average. 

Daru said nothing. He might as well be alone for all it mattered. If the human wanted to start torturing him or interrogating or trying another round of drugs, or if this was it and they had given up and this would be his last moment, there was equally nothing he could do about it, and the light side mindset he had reached made it all indifferent which it was.

"So you're half Twi'lek," the human said.

It was reasonably obvious. Daru had the blue skin and complete hairlessness of his mother, the round head and lack of lekku of his father. He stayed silent, feeling only a mild contempt.

Though that was enough to crack the light side trance and power began to back up within him again. Slowly -- it would be hours at this rate before it got as bad as it had been.

"And you're Darth Baras's apprentice."

He had known they knew that. "He will not go easy on those who have appropriated what is his." Baras might make a show of reprisal against the Republic. If only for deniability that he had arranged Daru's capture himself.

"I can handle a pissed off Sith Lord."

The human's easy confidence was probably feigned. If not for the force manacles, Daru was sure he would sense fear. "Is it so simple? The Dark Council are no bureaucracy like your own weak rulers."

"Not simple, but I managed."

"You? Fought a Dark Council member?"

"Killed a couple." The human slowly smiled. "You might not believe it, but I'm sure I could do it again if I needed to. They tend to be overconfident."

Daru narrowed his eyes, not sure if he could believe such bragging.

"You killed one yourself, I believe?" 

He knew about Vengean. This...who was this man?

"I suppose I should have introduced myself. Lord Daru, my name is Theron Shan."

"Satele Shan..."

"Doesn't care about me any more than she does about any Republic citizen who isn't her son." Theron smiled with his mouth. His eyes stayed cold. "Don't suppose you have any reason to doubt that. I know whose son you are."

"If Darth Malgus cared about me in the slightest, I wouldn't be here." He didn't mean captured, though Theron might assume that. He meant that if Malgus had cared about his son, then Daru would have been a weakness to be eliminated ruthlessly, as his mother had been. He had, as a child in the Sith Academy, often thought it should have been his fate, to die with his mother. 

"Then we have something in common. It's a start."

"A start on what?"

"I'd like to find a way to get you out of here alive," Theron said. "My higher ups don't see much up side, but I --" He hesitated. Daru wondered if the man thought there was the least chance of him buying this obvious ploy. Maybe it was just another thing they thought they had to try before they could justify killing him.

"Take the force manacles off me and I'll get myself out," Daru suggested. He could play along. It would be more entertaining than sitting there silently. 

_Was_ Theron Shan a Jedi? He looked like one, had the heritage of one, but he didn't act like one. A Jedi would be trying to get a feel for how easy it would be to sway Daru to the light if he wanted to make a try at winning him over. This ... wasn't that.

"Not an option I've got right now. But I'll work on it for you. I can be persuasive."

Maybe it was only that Theron was the first person he had seen since he had been captured who wasn't actively hostile -- or that he was already mostly convinced that the man's claim to Councillor kills, multiple, wasn't empty bluster -- plus his undeniable good looks -- but Daru was feeling very tempted to move closer, make his interest obvious. Intelligence types sometimes literally tried to seduce targets, didn't they? Could it hurt to see? 

Some of his thought must have shown in the Force or in his body language or expression, because a faint pink was suffusing the man's cheeks and his grin had gone from cold to faintly embarrassed. "I'll just go get started on that, why don't I," Theron said, his voice a little higher pitched, his cadence more rapid. He left in a bit of a hurry.

Daru laughed as the door to his cell closed behind Theron. How very interesting, he thought. Maybe his last few days wouldn't be the utter emptiness he had expected.

..

It was probably less than a day before Theron returned. Daru wasn't sure. They left the lights at the same low setting - not dark, not bright - and there was of course no window.

He wasn't sure what planet he was on, so a window might not have helped him tell time anyway. It would have been a welcome distraction from his boredom and the low-key panic that lay under it, that he had control over, more or less, most of the time.

This time he saw the door open and Theron enter the room. He was still not used to not being able to force sense the presence of other people. He felt completely alone even when he wasn't, and had since they put the manacles on. That was probably part of why the feeling of panic - he had never felt such isolation in his life. Even as a child, he could sense presences in the force.

So the man came into the room and he immediately sat up and took on a posture that communicated control, confidence, power. It was one of the things you had to learn fast in Korriban; by now it was instinctive. But he was self-conscious about it because normally he'd do it when he felt a presence, not only when he saw a person who was clearly there.

"I've worked out a deal for you," was what the human opened with. It was a decent start, Daru had to admit.

"What makes you think I'd be interested in dealing with you?" Negotiation required starting from a position of disinterest.

"One, you want out of here." Theron counted off on his fingers. "Two, you're a Sith, that means you have enemies. I'm going out on a limb and guessing that your enemies include Darth Baras and Darth Malgus, given what we know about you. That means we have mutual interests, and when two parties have mutual interests, there's a good chance they can come to an agreement."

"Neither of those is my enemy," Daru said. This was, pretty much, a straight out lie. He wasn't sure which one he hated more -- and both of them would gladly see him dead. They just wouldn't admit it, so he shouldn't either.

"Uh huh. Sure. So Baras has made two attempts to have you killed while in our custody so far," Theron said, counting off two more of his fingers. He was going to have to switch to the other hand, start over, or count his thumb next, Daru thought, trying to stay calm. Twice? And neither had succeeded? The SIS was more competent than he'd credited.

"All right. Baras is probably, currently, my enemy," Daru admitted. It wasn't like his pretense was working.

"Which means you might be interested in giving us some information about his plans and assets," Theron said. "Not to help us, of course. You have no interest in aiding the Republic. But to use us to harm your enemy."

It would serve Baras right, Daru thought. Tell the SIS about Baras's people, the blackmail and hostages he had and who he had them on, all the machinations of the truly contemptible traitor to his Emperor and self-interested Sith that Daru no longer thought of as his Master, whatever the technicality was of his apprenticeship, whatever the flimsywork in files on Dromund Kaas might say. Payback for Quinn and Draagh. 

Quinn would feel betrayed. Quinn deserved that.

"You think it's that easy?" Daru said harshly. He got to his feet, paced the small room as he spoke, crowding Theron as he brushed past. "You do have a high opinion of yourself. I doubt you'd be any use at all to me, and what would stop you from threatening me with exposure as a traitor when you wanted me to actually serve your interests? I'd love to use you all to take down Baras, it'd be a pleasure to watch him squirm as the Republic spies suddenly took out every one of his what he thought unassailable network of control. But I'd be a fool. And I am not a fool."

Theron flinched. His easy manner vanished, replaced by a jittery tension that was, perhaps, more intriguing... and probably a trick, therefore. Not a Jedi, Daru was suddenly sure. Definitely a spy.

"Maybe, though," he said, saying it before he'd thought it out. He'd always had an impulsive streak. "If I had something on you as bad as what you'd have on me." He made direct eye contact. Theron blinked but seemed unable to look away. Perfect. Even if fake, perfect.

"I have no idea what you're suggesting." The spy's tone was uneven, implying dissemblance. Had to be for show. It was working at a subliminal level on Daru, making him want to make this work, luring him into maybe a mistake, maybe a compromise he wouldn't find acceptable later. But what alternative was there? Death, an end, and he wasn't ready for that. 

"I'll let you figure it out, then. Maybe one of the analysts you no doubt have watching us can explain it to you." Daru nonchalantly turned his back on Theron, took a step over to the cot that was the only furniture in the cell, gracefully lay down on it with his hands folded behind his head. He relaxed ostentatiously as if he were alone. 

Surreptitiously, through eyes narrowed and slanted though his head was positioned as though he were looking at the ceiling, he watched Theron leave. Really, top quality physique, especially from behind.

Some indeterminate amount of time passed. Daru slept fitfully or lay bored and still and meditated or tried to think up new escape options he hadn't already. His thoughts chased each other in circles, exhausting most possibilities. At least he could distract himself a little with thoughts of the new acquaintance he'd made, the very interesting one, who might have been scared off for good by his desperate ploy. 

The one who returned, finally, a few minutes after Daru had given up on seeing him again. "I suppose you have a counter-proposal to offer me," Theron said, reserve in his voice that hadn't been there the day before, or maybe it had been earlier the same day. Time stretched and bent after so long in the same lighting, in isolation. 

Daru had to assume the spy had taken the time to get used to the idea and was now ready to discuss it. "Yes, that would be one thing you could call it. A proposition might be more fitting." He stood up, placing himself at a comfortable conversational distance from his visitor, his habitual need to project confidence and power with his stance and expression working double because of the relative powerlessness of the situation he was in.

The human cleared his throat. "All right. Sith are so dramatic. You feel like you built up enough suspense yet?"

The Sith had to smile at that. "Almost."

"I could get a drum and play you a drumroll."

"What would that achieve?"

"They play a drumroll when... oh, never mind. Too hard to explain. What do you do in the Empire? Trumpets? Chordokeylo?"

What... the spy babbled when nervous or wanted Daru to think he did, perhaps. He put the nonsense out of his mind. "My requirement for giving you Baras's network is that our story -- both yours and mine -- is that our interactions are intimate in nature. It must be completely plausible to anyone who might be told I cooperated with the SIS that in fact it is the SIS, in your person, who 'cooperates' with me." He stepped closer to Theron, to see if the spy would back away. Was pleased to see he did not, though there was an audible intake of breath, a squaring of the shoulders. 

"What do you get out of that?" Theron asked, so close Daru could feel his breath warm against his skin. 

"If your people try to use what you have against me by threatening to tell the other Sith, or Imperial intelligence, that I've given material aid to the enemy -- you -- then I have a counterthreat. Tell the Republic that the oh so heroic son of one of their admired leaders has been working for the Empire, having an affair with a Sith." He didn't mention that he hoped it would be more than that -- it would be 'with the Emperor's Wrath' very soon. An even better counter-threat then.

"So you aren't saying you're irresistibly attracted to me, then?" Theron's smirk was as fragile as an expensive Alderaanian teacup.

It was intended as a joke. "I'm capable of resisting a great deal more than your charms," Daru said flatly. 

Theron took a step back. "To pull off your -- proposition, you'll have to make it look convincing." Setting a challenge.

"I can if you can."

"Your enemies are Sith," Theron said, as if Daru had forgotten. "Many of the Sith can sense passion. Can you convince them you feel it without -- feeling it?"

"I can if you can," Daru repeated. It wasn't like it felt as if it would be difficult. 

"I have implants," Theron said flatly. "I can put myself in any emotional state I want, for a programmed duration, and horny? Is easy. If embarrassing."

Daru scoffed. He didn't need machinery stuck in his head to feel plausible passion for a dangerous and attractive man. All he needed to do was let his mind wander into the right regions of imagination -- the one where he slowly undressed Theron without coming closer than an arm's length, keeping him from moving by force choking him if he tried -- the one where he deftly cut Theron's clothing to ribbons with a vibroblade, having deemed a lightsaber too risky -- the one where Theron took him to one of the interrogation chambers and strapped him to one of those tables naked and made him beg -- 

To a black hole with _implants._ Useless gadgetry that didn't belong inside someone's head. What if it needed repairs at an inopportune time?

"You have a recording of that first time you came in here, don't you," Daru said, a plan forming in his thoughts. This would only work -- only really work -- if the SIS couldn't be sure, either. They'd believe Theron, of course, but they had to have that inkling of doubt. 

"I'm sure someone has it." Theron's head tilted, not much, with -- curiosity? Daru was not used to having to read body language without any Force sense backing up his visual impressions. 

"Get it. Watch it. Tell me it doesn't look like we're only pretending to be meeting for the first time. Like you don't look like you have an ulterior motive to keep me alive -- you do remember when we met before, don't you?" 

Theron narrowed his eyes. "Did we now."

Daru was thinking fast. What Dark Council members had been killed under circumstances that might be this man's doing, anyway, and one of them had to be -- he hoped, because he was wagering his life on this guess -- "When you assassinated my father's apprentice, of course. When I helped you do it."

Theron looked affronted for a split second and then covered it with an almost natural sounding laugh. "That would've been much easier if I'd had you helping." 

"It wouldn't have been easy no matter what, but it wouldn't have been possible without me. Of course, I only helped you to get at Malgus. Just like I'm only going to be helping you this time to get at Baras. And because it's you, of course." Daru caught Theron's eyes in his. 

"I suppose you're going to say you got yourself captured because you missed me," Theron suggested. His tone was falsely light, something underlying it that Daru couldn't identify.

Daru closed the distance between them again, held his wrists up with the force manacles. "Would you have done the same? Get these off me."

"A trust exchange. You give me something first."

Hope -- it was working. They'd buy it, the spy was going for it, Daru was going to get out of here alive and with his sanity, such as it was, intact. He gave Theron the names and positions of two of Baras's spies, one on Voss who he felt a particular antipathy toward and one on Nar Shaddaa who he thought might hurt Baras especially to lose the use of. 

And Theron pulled a datapad out of his jacket and made a few sweeps of his fingers. The cuffs powered down and snapped loose. Daru dropped them on the floor and took his first real breath since his capture. 

"Now," Theron said, and stopped. He looked as if he was bracing himself for something. 

Daru didn't stop to answer or say a word, just moved closer, put an arm around Theron and drew him into a kiss.

He could feel his own passion in the force and it was such a relief that it was no longer trapped inside him but could flow naturally, and he could also feel the answering passion in the spy -- there was no way that was faked by implants, but Daru let the deception stand, for now. 

"I'll escape now. I'll even be careful not to kill any of your SIS, unless they insist." 

"I, uh." Theron was breathless and flushed. "Appreciate that."

Getting out was top priority, but it was a shame because Daru really wanted to stay and get some more ... it would have to wait. 

He made an enormous hole in the wall of the room in the direction of the fewest force signatures indicating people -- might be droids in the way but oh well -- and when he'd reached an exit to the outside, he looked into the still operational holo-surveillance device on the one undamaged wall. "Call me, Theron," he said and winked.

Then he headed home.


End file.
